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Indonesia lifts wheat, sugar
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July 30, 1998: 5:01 p.m. ET
Foodstuff buys, global aid to drought- stricken country boost futures prices
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Despite recent economic woes, Indonesia was the toast of sugar and wheat markets Thursday when the archipelago said it will buy the two foodstuffs and donors lined up to aid the drought-stricken nation.
Prices rallied after Indonesia agreed to buy 745,000 metric tons of wheat, 202,000 metric tons of white sugar, and 80,000 metric tons of raw sugar.
The CSCE white sugar futures contract for delivery in October closed 0.32 cents higher at 8.84 cents a pound.
And the CBOT wheat futures contract for delivery in September gained 1 cent to $2.53-1/4 a bushel.
Wheat futures, which hit new lows on the September contract Wednesday, have been under pressure amid subsidies in Europe.
Late Thursday, at a gathering of international donors in Paris, the United States pledged up to 1.5 million metric tons of wheat while Japan offered a rice loan of 500,000 metric tons for Indonesia as it recovers from a drought over the past year.
The aid also comes as Indonesia and other nations sift through the rubble of Asia's market crunch that began last year. Indonesia's rupiah has lost 70 percent of its value in the past year.
Commodities fared well overall on Thursday. The Commodity Research Bureau's index, or CRB, the weathervane of performance in such markets as metals, oil, and agricultural goods, rose 1.11 to 207.25. 
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